Cala Tarida

Stand knee-deep and small fish swim round your feet. The water over the sandy bottom is that clear, and it stays shallow far enough out that children can paddle well away from the shoreline.

The main beach is the busy part, lined with hotel and restaurant beds. Head to the right-hand side and the sea gets deeper, with two smaller beaches of the same fine sand. For more room, climb onto the cliffs above the bay: the view runs back over the whole beach, and the evening sun sets over the sea from up there. The far side of the cliffs drops to the little cove you can see from the main sand, where the water is calm and the beach sellers do not follow.

• Beds belonging to the hotels and restaurants take up much of the sand; there is more free beach at one end.
• Sellers walk the beach offering towels and other goods, and they come round often.
• Big, steep steps lead down to the sand, and there is no wheelchair-accessible entrance.
• There are public toilets about 200 m from the beach, but no drinking-water point nearby, so bring your own water.
• The beach businesses take cards as well as cash.

Cala Tarida lies about 21 km west of Ibiza town. Two car parks sit about 150 m from the beach in a straight line, and the nearest bus stop is around 260 m away, with a second about 630 m off.

The last stretch is on foot, down big, steep steps to the sand. For the small cove across the bay, walk up onto the cliffs above the beach and make your way down the other side over rock. Wear shoes that grip; sandals slip on that descent.

Best: early morning, or late afternoon through to sunset, watched from the cliffs above the bay.

Avoid: the middle of the day in high summer.

The hotels behind the beach fill it in summer and the beds cover much of the sand, while the bare beach offers no shade at midday beyond rented umbrellas.